No citations on Halloween

On a night of costumed revelry — complete with the Pierson College Inferno, the Yale Symphony Orchestra’s Halloween show, college-sponsored trick-or-treating events and countless other parties — students steered clear of the long arm of the law.

The Yale Police Department crime log showed no evidence of student-related drinking infractions Halloween night. YPD spokesman Lt. Steven Woznyk said in an e-mail that the YPD did not issue any citations at the Inferno — perhaps the most publicized party on Friday — where hundreds of students partied late into the night.

Last year, several students, most of whom were at the Inferno, were cited for liquor violations on Halloween.

Trevor Wagener ’11, a member of the Pierson College Council, said the event went well. Pierson College Dean Amerigo Fabbri said he received an e-mail from students proclaiming the event a success. But while the annual event was not shut down by the police like last year — instead, there was a constant police presence throughout the night — many students interviewed said the new rules for this year’s Inferno made it less of a hit.

“It was successful only in that it was not broken up. I just used it to kill time before the YSO show,” Riley Ford ’11 said, adding that last year’s Inferno was much more fun.

Several students complained they were shut out of the dining hall, where the Inferno dance was taking place. By 11 p.m. the dining hall became so crowded that the Yale Police closed the doors and stopped letting people in until others left. Some students mentioned they were able to sneak in through the underground connection with Davenport College. Outside the dining hall, where people were trying to get in, there was pushing and shoving as officers yelled, trying to clear the area.

Wagener admitted that the event did not run perfectly, but the closure of the dining hall made sure no physical harm was done to the college.

“We learned valuable lessons to make next year’s Inferno even better,” he said.

The new event had many more rules than in years past, but some students found ways around them.

In the Lower Court, students over the age of 21 who had orange wristbands were able to consume alcohol. However, one 19-year-old sophomore told the News that he was able to get into the lower courtyard when his over-21-year-old friend handed him a bracelet.

In an e-mail to the Pierson community Thursday, Fabbri said police were planning to search the bags of everyone entering Pierson to prevent individuals from bringing in liquids.

Students at the Inferno reported, however, that their bags were not searched.